Tribunal validates Kano LGA census figure

The Census Tribunal on Monday in Abuja validated the 2006 enumeration figures for Wudil Local Government Area of Kano State as released by the National Population Commission (NPC).

The local government area had gone to court to challenge the 188,639 census figure that the commission had enumerated in the area.

In a judgment, the census tribunal said the figure was validated following the failure of the complainant to disclose the identities of persons it claimed were not enumerated in its petition.

In a lead judgment read by Mrs. Miannaya Essien, the tribunal held that the complainant failed to prove its claims that 1,807 households were omitted from the head count.

“The onus of claims is on the complainant to prove a fact it asserts. Section 132 of Evidence Act 2011 stipulates that the burden of proof in a suit lies on that person who would fail if no evidence were given on either side,” the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the tribunal as saying on Monday.

“The complainant failed to give the tribunal names of persons it claimed were omitted during the exercise.

“The failure of the complainant to prove the facts alleged is a major defect upon which it would fail.

“The complainant asserted that the omission of names of the persons who were not enumerated was not relevant. But giving the tribunal names is the only way to identify the persons it claimed were not enumerated.

“As the identity of the persons claimed not to have been enumerated in Wudil LGA has not been disclosed before the tribunal, the quest to claim a legal right on behalf of these unidentified persons, has omitted a fundamental element,’’ Essien added.